Al Dutcher, the Nebraska State Climatologist and a self-proclaimed conservative, as well as other Nebraska scientists, have been tasked by their state to do a study of changes in climate over time and its impact on agriculture and other economic drivers of the state. However, because of an amendment put into the funding bill by one state legislator, they are currently restricted to looking only at natural “cyclical” changes in climate and not any long-term trends which may be caused by humans or natural variations. The climate scientists are protesting, saying that the law prevents them from doing a complete study of all factors which may be affecting their state’s climate. The scientists feel that they owe it to Nebraska taxpayers to look at every potential cause of changes in drought and other weather variables. The climatologists are refusing to start the study until a compromise is reached that will allow them to look at all climate factors. You can read the story here.
